


Neither Goodwife or Good Wife

by Seiya234



Category: English and Scottish Popular Ballads - Francis James Child
Genre: Child 243, Gen, Roud 14, The House Carpenter, the demon lover - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 04:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12182976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seiya234/pseuds/Seiya234
Summary: "She set her foot upon the ship,No mariners could behold.The sails were of the shining silk,The masts of beaten gold."





	Neither Goodwife or Good Wife

[hey hi hello I listen to too many child ballads](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fmainlynorfolk.info%2Flloyd%2Fsongs%2Fthedemonlover.html&t=YjBlMThkNjFkYWY1OTg2ZDMwYWI5YWIwOWM5ZGI4OWE0NzNiOTY4OCx2SzAxRkZ1ZA%3D%3D&b=t%3AS3ysjbPhz5pOAapDaatLbQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fseiya234.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F164466213029%2Fhey-hi-hello-i-listen-to-too-many-child-ballads&m=1)

—

(three times three times round the gallant ship)

She had never been a Good Girl. Or a Goodwife. And as much as she loved her babies three, she could admit to herself here and now that she had never been a particularly great mother either.

Goodwives did not abandon their homestead, no matter if they had never gotten the knack of cooking or weaving. Goodwives did not abandon their lawful husbands, no matter how dull they were in conversation or in bed. Goodwives did not abandon their children to the mercies of a clueless father or a potentially cruel stepmother.

And Goodwives should never feel sweet heat between their legs as their lover destroyed the ship uponst which they stood. 

(three times three times round the gallant ship)

Perhaps he was expecting her to tremble in fear.

Perhaps he was expecting her to beg for mercy, for forgiveness. 

For her soul. 

But she had made her choices, and she would stand by them, even as the tears dried on her cheeks. 

For no matter how bad they were, it was worth it.

Worth it to have sailed these past few weeks on the choppy seas, far from home.  

Worth it to have tasted spices that bewildered her tongue, to have gone to ports filled with wonders she could have never dreamt of. 

Worth it to have rocked back and forth with him inside of her, riding her lover as she crested over and over again.

(three times three times round the gallant ship)

“those are the hills of heaven my love”

His eyes hadn’t changed, though the rest of him had, in ways that she should perhaps find alarming but was more intrigued by.

“those are the hills of hell my love”

My love.

She stood on the now broken deck of the ship, the sea water starting to swirl around her ankles and yet she stared into the eyes of her lover.

My love. 

She licked her lips, even as the water reached her knees. Sink or swim. Was he a demon? Or _the_  demon?

“If-” her voice caught. Damnit she was better than this.

“If I forsake this earth, and come along with thee, can you promise to keep me from eternal slavery?”

Her demon lover smiled. Then he struck the mast in a final flash of fire, sending them sinking to the bottom of the sea. 

(it was, she found, better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven)


End file.
